Technology Slowdown

I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s – the era of the landline. A rotary phone, located on the telephone table at the edge of the livingroom. When we were teenagers, and wanted to use the phone to chat with our friends, we pulled it down the hall into the laundry room – only to be told by Dad “not to tie up the phone all night.” We had one TV that was in the livingroom – the remote control being the ‘big step up’ of technology when we were kids. We ate supper as a family, and our evenings weren’t tied up with a phone, tablet, laptop or even television (with only one in the house, we were often at the mercy of what our parents wanted to watch, Lawrence Welk anyone?) 🙂 If we didn’t like what was on, we may have picked up a book, played a board game, headed outside.

Technology is supposed to better our lives – at least that is what we have been told. And although it has in many ways, it failed to come with a warning label. It failed to properly inform us that our nervous system is not meant for that much input. In fact, we are best served spending much of our time in our comfort system; in a place where our heart rate and blood pressure numbers are healthy, where we get a restful sleep, where we have an eye on our moments of daily solitude, where we sense balance.

Sometimes it serves us (and our families) to slow down the technology. No cell phones at the table, plan some family nights where time is spent doing something other than watching TV (while simultaneously being on your cell phone), commit to not checking work emails after hours, shut off notifications on your cell. Be mindful of ‘boredom scrolling;’ paying attention to how  social media is affecting you.

We can take a few lessons from the past and the importance of a balanced pace to life. A good place to start? A technology slowdown. 🙂

Photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@anniespratt